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A Stockton postman who was sacked for falling and injuring himself twice on his round, has lost an unfair dismissal claim against Royal Mail.
Paul Duffy first tripped on a path and fractured his shoulder. Then, about three months later, he slipped on a sledge in a driveway and broke his knee while reading his mail.
The postman claimed the sledge was hidden under a blanket of snow and this is why he did not see it, but the homeowner whose house he was delivering to at the time claimed it was perfectly visible.
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They also told Mr Duffy’s bosses they saw him reading his mail and not watching where he was walking before he fell.
His bosses ruled he was ‘distracted because he was reading whilst walking’ in both incidents and sacked him for dishonesty and ‘disregard to health and safety’ in March 2021, following nearly 20 years of service with Royal Mail.
Mr Duffy filed a claim of unfair dismissal at an employment tribunal held in Newcastle but Employment Judge John Morris ruled the decision to sack him was fair and dismissed his claim.
The tribunal heard Mr Duffy was handed a two-year suspended dismissal – a form of final written warning – in 2019 after he submitted fraudulent overtime claims.
This meant any future misconduct could lead to his dismissal.
In October 2020 Mr Duffy was working from the delivery office in Stockton, when he entered the driveway of a property to which he was delivering mail and tripped on the edge of the pathway and fell, fracturing his shoulder.
The tribunal heard he was placed on sick leave and would carry out light work from the office but no action was taken against him following this incident.
However, in January 2021, Mr Duffy suffered another fall while he was delivering mail.
He told his bosses he had delivered mail to a property and, as he turned to leave, he stood on a sledge, which caused him to fall.
The injury report noted: “The conditions were icy as it had been snowing, the drive had small patches of compact snow on it although the paving below was clearly visible. For whatever reason Mr Duffy has failed to see that sledge prior to walking down the drive.”
Mr Duffy had x-rays at a local hospital and found out he had a broken knee and torn ligaments which required surgery. He was initially signed off work for four weeks but this was extended until the end of February due to a ‘stress-related problem’.
The tribunal heard the homeowners told Royal Mail: “Mr Duffy handed over a parcel and turned to leave the property… As he turned to leave… Mr Duffy was looking at the bundle of mail as if to see where he was going next. As he left the doorstep he took two steps and stood on a sledge which had been left on the drive… Mr Duffy stood on the sledge and slipped falling heavily…”
The homeowners said the sledge wasn’t covered in snow as ‘it hadn’t been out all night and had in fact just been put out from inside the house an hour earlier than when the incident occurred’.
The ‘root cause’ of the incident was recorded as ‘Likelihood is Mr Duffy was reading mail whilst walking and not paying attention’.
A fact-finding meeting was held in late January 2021, during which Mr Duffy explained: “I turned to leave and stood down from the step, took a couple of steps between the parked cars and I stood on a patch of snow.”
The tribunal heard he explained it was only after he fell that he realised that he had ‘stood on a patch of snow and the sledge was underneath the snow… There was snow all over’.
The case was passed on to Tom Carver, delivery office manager, for a formal conduct meeting in February 2021 ‘to discuss discrepancies within the accident investigation’.
The conduct to be discussed was said to be potential dishonesty and potential ‘deliberate disregard to health and safety’.
Mr Duffy said at this meeting: “I was looking straight ahead at where I was going.
“I stated that I stood on a patch of snow. I don’t know if the sledge was fully covered in snow.
“I don’t know if the sledge was fully covered or not.”
Mr Carver concluded Mr Duffy ‘knew there were patches of snow on the drive and should have recognised the danger’ and added there wouldn’t have been enough snowfall for the sledge to be covered in any event.
He said: “I believe Mr Duffy decided to claim that the sledge was under snow in a way to hide that again he was to blame for his own accident…
“It was clear that in both incidents [Mr Duffy] was distracted because he was reading whilst walking. He had failed to identify the sledge, which was a deliberate disregard to health and safety.”
The claim of unfair dismissal was unsuccessful.
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